The goalkeeper is the most inconspicuous player on the field, which fans can only notice, frankly, in disastrous matches when their teams are beaten too much. In many clubs in the world, the role and class of the goalkeeper is really exaggerated. What is the admiration of Iker Casillas worth when he played for Real Madrid and his poor position in Porto today. The goalkeeper must show a quality game from match to match, otherwise his career will not be very bright. One of the main stars of the Russian goal was Alexander Filimonov, the goalkeeper admired by thousands of fans. Despite this, his football fate was not very successful.
Alexander Filimonov: biography of the goalkeeper
From childhood, Alexander was doomed to play football, because his father was a football player known throughout the Soviet Union. Filimonov (goalkeeper) was born in Yoshkar-Ola in the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. At a young age, he was given by his father to the local sports school "Petrel". According to the goalkeeper himself, the training was very difficult and debilitating, coming home every night, the boy did not feel either arms or legs. It was a very difficult period in the career of a novice footballer, but the future goalkeeper of Spartak Filimonov withstood these non-childish loads and established himself as a very reliable goalkeeper at a youthful level. By this he attracted the attention of more serious clubs.
The first steps in professional football
In 1992, the goalkeeper noticed the club of the top division of the championship of Russia "Fakel", where the young athlete and moved. The transition to the “Fakel” took place only thanks to his father, who, in a conversation with the “Fakel” coach, recommended his son to that and said to come to the coach of the Yoshkar-Olsk club with a bottle of vodka. In such an informal atmosphere, the two coaches agreed, the transition of Alexander took place. In 1992, he made his debut in adult football and proved to be pretty good. Having played the season for Fakel, he aroused great interest among the fourth club of the top division - Tekstilshchik from Kamyshin. Despite the fact that the club of stars from the sky was not enough, the team still held tight in the middle of the table, and in the 1994/1995 season it very successfully performed in the UEFA Cup. It was at this tournament that Filimonov, a soccer goalkeeper, showed himself. After that, his agent did not have time to rake proposals for the young goalkeeper.
Alexander Filimonov: time at Spartak
Having received an offer from one of the strongest clubs in the Soviet Union and the entire championship of Russia, Filimonov, without hesitation for a long time, began to collect things for moving to Moscow. This was a new career challenge. The goalkeeper of Spartak Filimonov received a huge number of both individual awards and team awards. He was regularly called up to the Russian national team, became the country's champion 6 times in 7 seasons, and received the Lev Yashin prize as the best goalkeeper of the year. You can call these times golden for such a person as Filimonov the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper rescued his team many times, many associate such successes of the team with his name. His performances for Spartak (Moscow), he forever inscribed his name in the history of post-Soviet sports.
Transition to Dynamo (Kiev)
Less and less Filimonov began to fall into the main team of the capital's club, because there appeared a new goalkeeper named Maxim Levitsky. According to Alexander himself, he stopped joining the squad exactly then, as he told the coach of the Moscow team that he would like to try his hand somewhere abroad. It was a regular failure to start 11 that served as the reason and reason for his transition to Kiev “Dynamo”, which was looking for a replacement for his unchangeable leader in the gate - Alexander Shovkovsky. Unfortunately, this club didn’t go very well either, as the then-coach Kiev Valery Lobanovsky, who was also the coach of the Ukrainian national team, trusted the goal frame to Alexander's substitute Vitaliy Reva. Also, the absurd goals that Alexander conceded in the Champions League could have influenced Lobanovsky’s decision. As a result, in fact it turned out like this: "Filimonov - goalkeeper number 2".
Ukraine Russia
There was a selection for the European Championship 2000, where both Ukraine and Russia wanted to get. Both teams ended up in the same basket by lot, which meant that they would fight among themselves to leave the group. It was not long before the qualifying tournament ended, and here the fatal match between the national teams of the two countries begins. At the gates of the Russian national team, the place was taken by the famous Alexander Filimonov. During the match, it was difficult to determine who had the advantage, because the teams were equal. Only Andrey Shevchenko stood out , who recently signed a contract with the Italian Milan. At the 87th minute of the match, the score was 1-0 in favor of the Russian national team, but the Ukrainians earned the right to a free kick. Shevchenko set the ball, it was 40 meters to the goal - no less, but who could have expected that Andriy would decide to strike from such a distance? But he made up his mind and threw the ball right “for the collar” to Filimonov. After that, Alexander became the eternal hero of the folklore of Russian fans.
Club walking
After Kiev “Dynamo” there was not a single bright spot in the career of a football player. He went from one club to another without stopping for more than 2 seasons. Of course, he also visited Europe, but did he really dream of a Cyprus championship? The Russian teams did not favor him either, and therefore he had to play for teams that either fought for survival or were in the second division of the Russian championships. “Uralan”, “Moscow”, “Nea Salamina”, “Lokomotiv” Tashkent, “Arsenal” Tula, “Dolgoprudny - this is the list of clubs that managed to change the goalkeeper, they replenished his biography. Alexander Filimonov has always been a good goalkeeper, but he lacked faith in themselves and in their own strength.
Beach football
In 2011, an interesting case occurred with Filimonov. Completely disappointed in his career over the past 10 years, he already wanted to finish with football, but then there was a call from the Lokomotiv team, which invited such a player as Filimonov (goalkeeper) to himself. What is so interesting? And the fact that “Locomotive” was a beach soccer team. Oddly enough, but Alexander accepted the invitation from the team and began his appearances for the railroad. Together with the team, he won the championships of Russia, as well as the Euroleague Super Final, together with the Russian team, where he was also invited. Once he was even recognized as the best goalkeeper of the Russian beach soccer championship and thereby became the first goalkeeper to be awarded the title of best in both big football and soccer in the sand.
Summarizing
At the moment, Filimonov is fully focused on big football and devotes his time only to him. This was due to the fact that he was invited to the position of playing coach of the Tula Arsenal, which received professional status in 2012. There Filimonov could already try his hand in the role of head coach, but few believed in his success, because, as you know, goalkeepers rarely make good coaches. But he nevertheless achieved certain local successes with the Tula team and clearly entered his name in the history of the club, which had not existed for 5 years.
Now Filimonov is the goalkeeper and coach of the Dolgorudny club near Moscow. Apparently, even in his 42 years, Alexander is not going to leave football, remaining a good person and a professional who causes great respect for his person.